


The Man Who Would Be King

by Thisisarealtagwhy



Category: One Piece
Genre: Ace in some weird rendition of the afterlife, Ace is still dead, Angst, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Introspection, Lots of characters mentioned, Metaphors, Symbolism, The Man Who Would Be King, The Man Who Would Be King by Iron Maiden, based on a iron maiden song, be ready to be weirded out, idek what this fic is, literally this entire fic is based off that, made it listening to suicide season too, the whole shebang, who knows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-10-21 06:58:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10680093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thisisarealtagwhy/pseuds/Thisisarealtagwhy
Summary: Ace has been wandering the scenery for a long time now, he hadn't hesitated to stand between the magma bastard and Luffy, but what is to become of him? This place is weird, time is irrelevant and it gives him far too much time to reflect on his life-time.(Really weird fic set in the after-life (?) probably)





	The Man Who Would Be King

**Author's Note:**

> **uhh edit: 22/08/2018** i changed a little teensie bit of the text and the summary but i dont think ill take it down, this was my second ever One Piece fic!! and im 80% sure i wrote it before Eyes of the Ocean which will also remain up. okay i lied, it was like my fourth, but again, p sure it was written, i just never posted it cos its so fucking weird
> 
> idk, im just in a nostalgic mood today. 
> 
> Uhh, what was here before?? _Right_ this was completely based off the _[The Man Who Would Be King](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhxfmybQnCI)_ by Iron Maiden, it's kinda trippy? and if you listen to the lyrics you'll catch my drift, it's hardly the best Iron Maiden song but idk, it called to me, back in the good ole days where all i would listen to was Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath...
> 
> Thanks to the four guys who kuodsed here over the years! obviously it doesn't mean much to many, but it meant a whole lot to me!! 
> 
> So uh, enjoy the revised edition?

_As he travels on the beast of burden,_  
_Moving up along the mountainside,_  
_As he gazes, looking down the valley,_  
_No regrets but his pride._

* * *

 

The young man sighed once more, rubbing a hand tiredly through his hair and consequently, over his freckled face. His fingers map a path for remembrance, he is alive and nothing can bode well.

He has been following a map that had flown to him on the same wind that had driven him to this mountainous kingdom of wilderness. He hikes, used to these kinds of walks, meaning he will not become tired of the journey.

He has been here for months, wandering aimlessly through, nothing to regret but the pride that was his ultimate demise. Who even knows where  _this_ is. 

The mountain passes loom over him, him, an insignificant blot on the world, insignificance floats over him. if he were to disappear here, no-one would know, no-one would grieve, no-one would _care._

The ugly scar that has mangled his pride and joy is a testament to that.

After everything that has happened he cannot truly take in the beauty around him. Beautiful lakes lie hidden amongst thick vegetation, hidden jewels to the eye. Exotic fruits of every colour reside on oddly, elongated trees, limbs reaching towards the sky, the sun. Even the dirt here is as fine as sand, as soft as grass. The sky, a blue monolithic force that never seems to have a single cloud within it. Even when it rains all of nature seems to let out a sigh of relief and accept the clouds and drink to its hearts content. The creatures around here tend to ignore or run away from him, recognising him for what he truly is.

But, he doesn’t remember those details, it’s all reflected back into an empty meat sack.

He isn’t running away from anything despite what his mind screams in the emptiness reaches of the night. He isn’t ignoring his problems that seem to have awoken the minute he truly came alive. He hopes that something will stumble across his meandering path. He wants nothing more than to be saved but cannot find the heart to believe he will.

It’s been months now, no end in sight, he wants to find the answer to his very existence, the one that eluded him from his accursed birth. He always thought of it as a child but now… he had avoided it, suddenly it flickers to life inside of him. He wishes that there was a part of him that could care more.

He needs to know.

It’s after a month that the man concludes he cannot go on much further, he has needed to see _something,_ a sign, _anything,_ to know that his struggle was not in vain.

What will be the cost to give in now? No-one is around, no-one, not a single soul has disturbed him except for the changing of the seasons and the flora and fauna, he needs to know that _someone_ is willing to tell him the answer.

His life, or what remains of it and time are the only two things he has left.

(That’s a lie and he knows it, a sacrifice was made for another, one that should have been _avoided._ He _needs to find this person at any cost._ )

His life was never given a run-through, if it was, a higher power of whatever would have destroyed his life-force, the two that made him, ying and yang, one with the most freedom in the world, the other forced to live in the shadows.

Forced to save him, died to save him. He owes her everything.

_Living really is the only way to know._

Maybe one day he will leave, find the other, the sun, but the sea and the moon in the same person.

He is the sun for he is the embodiment of light and happiness but also sturdiness in two, he will not yield if the time calls for it. Yet the sun is stuck in a constant cycle of motion, similar to him but it is too forced, too constricting which is why he is the sea as well.

The sea means freedom; it has the power to take away _so much_ but it is still freedom. Even then the sea is mildly controlled by the moon which is why he is also one with the darkness in the sky, the lull and pull of freedom, up to  _him._

The brightest light among the millions that dot the darkness when the sun is gone. It is why he is all three for they keep each other in balance and keep the world on its’ toes.

He wishes truly that the embodiment of the celestial bodies will forgive him one day, he hopes that those trying their hardest to save him will forgive him. He needs it, after everything he has done.

Maybe fate played a part in his destiny of failure but victory in the same moment.

He cannot shy away from the things he has done.

Penance is the only way he will be able to face them one day, at the top and end of the world.

He cannot, _will not_ run away.

This power, the power to be forgiven is the only medicine that will mend his broken soul.

He never truly believed in a higher power, but now he truly wishes to repent for what he has done, accept the consequences.

What he’s done shalt have repentance, he is sure of it, as sure as he is that the sun will rise in the East. If only repentance by the sun himself that it shall be, but…

But… but… has he left it too late to try?

He tried to be something else, he tried so hard and it always fell away to reveal the human emotions underneath, it peeled away like old paint, fresh coats applied by the ones he had failed and succeeded in protecting.

Is it possible to change everything? Possible to change the fluid sea, the sturdy moon, the unchangeable sun?

He’s taken his own force away, destroyed it in his own way.

He regrets it, the fact that the one he saved had to live through that, not one but _two_ were taken by the hands of darkness but fire at the same time.

Now one has risen from the ashes like a phoenix, the taste of his organs melted, blood boiling away on a singular limb. Cauterised instantly but still _agony._ The taste has faded away as has his only protection, just like everything else, slid away like the water running down the mountainsides.

He should have run when told, should have left, been selfish and allowed someone to protect _him_ for once.

But, he always knew he never deserved to live, despite what the sun, moon, sea and the earth had said. He deserved the pain, the regret, every second of it.

He reflects on his decisions as he does every day, hour, minute, second, not much else to accomplish in such a lush but barren place. Where are the people? Where are the homes? Where are the creatures that reign over this domain?

He knows that this will haunt him back to his grave, the one so carefully decorated, the one painstakingly carved by what he knows is the one to create his vessel, care for it.

But even so, he knows that there was no other way. The sun, the moon and the sea were behind him, he _couldn’t_ allow _anything_ to happen to him whilst he was still growing.

He has died for him, but he has also risen for him. The Man Who Would Be King.

* * *

 

 _Destiny, no good to hide away,_  
_Penance will be his only way._  
_Understand, no good to run away,_  
_Penance will be his saving grace._

 _Far, far, away,_  
_The man who would be king,_  
_So far away,_  
_The man who would be king._


End file.
